either spitting or blowing his nose—"a rule which it would be impossible to observe, except by men who had practised great moderation in diet and exhausted the moisture of their bodies by exercise."
Under this mode of instruction, which Xenophon does not further describe, Cyrus was brought up till twelve years old. He was then taken to see his grandfather, Astyages, king of the Medes. By his lively prattle he pleased Astyages, and was invited to remain for some time at his court. Cyrus begged his mother to let him stay, because, he said, "he knew how to shoot well enough already, and by stopping amongst the Medes he should have a better opportunity than at home of learning to ride." His mother's objection was that he would forget all about "justice." But Cyrus said that he quite understood justice, and did not require to learn it any more. "How so?" said Mandane. "Why," said Cyrus, "I have often been appointed to decide cases, and I only made one mistake. That was in the case of the boys and the coats. There was a big boy who had a little coat, quite too small for him. And there was a little boy with a large coat, very loose upon him. So the big boy made the little boy exchange coats with him, and I decided that he was right in doing so, and that each boy should keep the coat that best fitted him. But the master beat me for giving this decision, for he said that it was against the law to force a person to give up his property, and that justice consisted in obeying the law. So, now I know what justice is." This story—which has probably been made familiar
